HBCUs Latest Extramural Awards
Morgan State University Cybersecurity Team Receives
National Science Foundation Award
Morgan State University was awarded a $999,450 research grant to a
research team, Drs. Kemi Ladeji-Osias, Willie Thompson, III, Kofi Nyarko,
and Michel Reece led by Dr. Kevin T. Kornegay by the National Science
Foundation (NSF). The HBCU Research Infrastructure for Science and
Engineering (RISE) award is used to fund the Morgan team’s “Embedded
System Security via Reverse Engineering and Countermeasures” project—
an initiative addressing security and data integrity issues that can threaten
processing systems embedded in every electronic device. These are systems
such as the smart gas or electric meters in your home or electronic gaming
that, together, make up what is called the “Internet of Things” (IoT).
The Internet of Things (IoT), is a scenario in which objects, animals or people are provided unique
identifiers such as an Internet protocol (IP) address and the ability to transfer data over a network
without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The IoT has evolved from the
convergence of wireless technologies, sensors, and the Internet. Things in the IoT can be a person with a
wireless heart implant, a smart power meter, an automobile with OnStar, an animal with a biochip
transponder, a plant with an RFID tag, an Ethernet wired network device (e.g. switch, router, firewall,
etc.) or any other object that can be assigned an IP address and equipped with a means to transfer data
over a network. As the IoT continues its evolution, the number of things and the upstream data
associated with them, present new concerns particularly regarding security. Current solutions address
IoT security at upper layers of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model such as the application,
transport, network, or data link layers but there exists a unique opportunity at the physical layer.
Addressing security much earlier at the physical layer of the OSI stack allows for the formation of a
security perimeter at the physical boundary as opposed to the upper layers. Hence, the proposed research
focuses on IoT device vulnerability assessment, countermeasures, authentication, and intrusion
detection. Countermeasures are necessary to secure an IoT device’s ability to withstand cyber-attacks,
and sustain or recover functionality. The research presented in this proposal will build on the existing
research competency of department faculty, while allowing us to develop expertise in physical layer
cyber security, increase research productivity, attract new faculty, and contribute further to the
production of underrepresented students with doctoral degrees
in engineering.
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